The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) is set to appoint acting chief Andrew Rhodes as permanent Chief Executive according to reports.
Rhodes took on the role as Interim Chief Executive in June 2021 following the resignation of Neil McArthur and according to a report in the Guardian, his stricter approach on unacceptable operator behavior has convinced decision makers that he is the person to lead the Commission forward in the coming years.
The report goes on to mention that Rhodes’ approach has been welcomed by both the Commission and at the highest level of the UK Government.
Rhodes’ tenure will begin with the government gambling review and the contest for the fourth National Lottery license.
In December 2021, Rhodes outlined his approach to operator misconduct and his vision for the industry in a speech at the GambleAware conference saying:
“TOO MANY OPERATORS ARE NOT COMPLYING WITH OUR RULES. THIS YEAR IS ON COURSE TO BE OUR BUSIEST YEAR. WE STILL SEE CASES THAT MAKE EVERYONE BLUSH. THAT HAS TO STOP.”
He went on to add that:
“In terms of our role at the Gambling Commission, our job is to permit gambling. It’s to license gambling as long as that is consistent with the licensing objectives. Those objectives say that gambling must be fair and transparent, crime free and protect the vulnerable from harm.
In an ideal world we would have little to do beyond licensing operators, but that’s not the case, and we’re nowhere near that at this point in time. There is still far too much harm from gambling as a result of too little compliance amongst too many operators who are not complying with our rules.”
Culture Minister Nadine Dorris is expected to confirm his appointment within the next few days. As the permanent Chief Executive, Rhodes is expected to earn a salary of £150,000 (€180,000/$200,000).
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.